star 3/19/01 7:35 AM Page 1

Educational Product
National Aeronautics and Educators Grades
Space Administration & Students K-12
EG-2001-01-005-GSFC

Educator Resources
for Understanding
Connections
Between the Sun
and Earth
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Living With A Star is available in electronic format through NASA

Spacelink–one of NASA’s electronic resources specifically for the
educational community. This publication and other educational
products may be accessed at the following address:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products
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Living With A Star

An Educator Guide with Activities in Sun-Earth Sciences

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration
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Living With a Star

About This
Educator’s Guide
This guide is designed to
provide educators with a
quick reference to materials
and resources that are useful
for understanding the
connections between
the Sun and Earth.

What is SEC? What is SECEF?

Fundamental and applied research in
the Sun-Earth Connection (SEC) will lay
the groundwork for the future:
• To advance space science, we will
continue to investigate the basic process-
es that cause solar variations, as well as
their consequences for the solar system.
The Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum (SECEF) is part of NASA’s
Space Science Education and Public Outreach Program, a partnership
between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of
California, Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory. Our two primary
goals are to disseminate educational resources related to the Sun
and its connection to Earth and to facilitate the involvement of space
scientists in education. http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov

• To ensure the safety of humans traveling

from Earth, we will seek to understand
and forecast the space environments with
which they must cope.
• To take the first steps toward voyaging
to nearby stars, we will carry out robot-
ic exploration of interstellar space
beyond the heliosphere.
To meet these objectives, the SEC theme
is dedicated to understanding the physi-
cal processes that power the Sun and link
the Sun and Earth. The basic physics con-
cerns the behavior of primarily electrified
material and its interaction with magnet-
ic fields on the Sun, in interplanetary
space, at the Earth and planets, and in
the local galactic environment.
Contact the Sun-Earth
Connection Education Forum
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Isabel Hawkins Forum Co-Director
Karen Meyer Forum Co-Manager
karena@ssl.berkeley.edu
(510) 642-4185
NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
Rich Vondrak Forum Co-Director
Jim Thieman Forum Co-Manager
thieman@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
(301) 286-9790

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Contents
Educator Resources for Understanding
Connections Between the Sun and Earth

Common Questions and Answers 4

A listing of sites that answer some of the most common
Sun-Earth Connection questions.

Sun-Earth Connection Missions 5

Website listings for spacecraft and instruments currently
studying the Sun-Earth Connection.

Website Resources 10
Educational solar sites listed by grade level.

NASA CORE Materials 11

Websites offering NASA posters, CDs
and other educational materials.

Activities: Observing the Sun for Yourself 12

Hands-on activities for use in the classroom.

Projecting the Sun 13

Using Remote Solar Telescopes 14
Using Your Own Telescope 14
Observing Solar Eclipses 15
Sunspot Drawings 16

NASA Educator Workshop Resources 17

An annotated listing of sites that provide educator training and educator materials.

Glossary 18
Sun-Earth Connection terms and their definitions.

Additional NASA Resources 19

Links to NASA education and public dissemination sites.

Solar image taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope aboard the SOHO satellite.
Image from the Solar Data Analysis Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov:80/sdac.html

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Common Questions and Answers

Links to answer the most frequently asked questions.

Where can I find classroom What are

activities about solar auroras?
storms and the Sun? http://www.auroras2000.com
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/explore/ Would you like to
http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/
How much do you explore the Earth’s
know about the Sun? magnetosphere?
Would you like to hear http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry
interviews with Sun-Earth http://solar-center.stanford.edu http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Connection scientists? Education/Intro.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/sunspots
Where can I “hear” the
How can I participate in a weekly
live chat with a space scientist?
Earth’s magnetosphere?
http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/mcgreevy/
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats/sched.html

What does Where can I Experience

find out about
the Sun look solar events that a total solar
like today? my class can eclipse!
http://umbra.gsfc.nasa.gov/ participate in? http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse
images/latest.html http://www.solarevents.org

How can I tour the Sun and learn

about our nearest star from the inside? How does radiation
http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP
affect astronauts?
What is the latest news http://flick.gsfc.nasa.gov
on Space weather? http://see.msfc.nasa.gov
http://www.spaceweather.com
Ask a Scientist
Where can I find out http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/askmag.html
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/explore/drsoho.html

about solar flares?

http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/hessi_epo/
New Launches
http://spacescience.nasa.gov

How do solar storms affect What is Solar

our electric power systems?
http://www.mpelectric.com/storms/
Maximum?
http://www.solarmax2000.com

Images: (top)Earth’s Magnetosphere illustration (middle) Solar eclipse image from Fred Espenak’s Eclipe (bottom) Solar prominence image
courtesy of NASA’s Sun-Earth Connection. Home page at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. from Big Bear Solar Observatory
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html http://www.bbso.njit.edu/

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Sun-Earth Connection Missions

http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/educators/missions.html
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/missions.html

NASA SEC Mission (Launch Date) Mission Education Page Science Objective
ACE (1997 – ) Cosmic and Heliospheric Study of the physics and chemistry
Advanced Composition Explorer Learning Center of the solar corona, the solar wind,
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/ace/ http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov and the interstellar medium.

Cluster II (2000 – ) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Study of Earth’s magnetic field, electric

http://sci.esa.int/cluster istp/outreach surroundings, and the effects of the
solar wind on the Earth’s protective
magnetosphere.

CRRES (1990 – 1991) To Find out how Earth’s radiation

Combined Release and environment affects microelectronic
Radiation Effects Satellite No Education Page circuitry; the composition of the Earth’s
http://www.ball.com/aerospace/crres.html radiation belts; the magnetosphere
interacts with the ionosphere.

FAST (1996 – ) http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu How the particles and fields

Fast Auroral SnapshoT Explorer in the upper atmosphere change
http://plasma2.ssl.berkeley.edu/fast during an aurora.

Genesis (2001 – ) http://www.genesismission. The search for origins of the universe

http://www.genesismission.org org/educate through the study of solar wind and
- also visit - fusion chemistry.
http://sun.jpl.nasa.gov/

Geospace Electrodynamic
Connections (GEC)
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
missions/gec/gec.htm
(2008 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
educ_out/educ_out.htm
GEC will determine how the ionosphere-
thermosphere (I-T) system reponds to
magnetosphere forcing and how the
I-T system is dynamically coupled to the
magnetosphere.

GEOTAIL (1992 – ) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Study of the magnetotail region and

http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/geotail istp/outreach/ the change over time, and how the
magnetotail, plasma sheet, and
magnetopause interact.

HESSI (2001 – ) http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Study of solar flares, the effect on

High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager hessi_epo/ electron and proton acceleration and
http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/hessi/ the origin of energy for solar flares.

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Sun-Earth Connection Missions

http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/educators/missions.html
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/missions.html

NASA SEC Mission (Launch Date) Mission Education Page Science Objective
IMAGE (2000 – ) http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Study of how the magnetosphere is
Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora poetry/ changed by its interaction with the solar
Global Exploration wind; how plasmas are transported
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/ from place to place within the magne-
tosphere; the loss of magnetospheric
plasmas from the system during storms.

IMEX (2001 – ) To provide global imaging of the

Inner Magnetosphere Explorer aurora, ring current, and plasmaspheric
http://ham.space.umn.edu/spacephys/ populations. IMEX will provide in situ
imex.html No Education Page measurements, particularly of electric
fields and ring current populations, and
cross-calibration, while TWINS and
IMAGE will provide a context for
interpreting the IMEX measurements.

IM (2009 – ) http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/ A global network of satellites that will

Ionospheric Mappers lws_education.htm gather knowledge of how the ionosphere
http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/ behaves as a system, linking solar
lws_missions_im.htm energy with Earth’s atmosphere.

IMP-8 (1973 – ) IMP-8 measures the magnetic fields,

Interplanetary Monitoring Platform plasmas, and energetic charged particles
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/imp-8.html (e.g., cosmic rays) of Earth’s
No Education Page magnetotail and magnetosheath and
of the near-Earth solar wind. IMP-8 is
one of the longest running solar-terres-
trial spacecrafts. The year 2001 marks
this spacecraft’s 28th year.

INTERBALL (1995 – ) Study of the relationship between

http://www.iki.rssi.ru/interball.html processes in the geotail and the particle
No Education Page acceleration above the auroral oval;
how solar flares and X-ray bursts
affect the magnetotail and cusp regions.

ISTP (mutiple missions) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Participating Missions:

International Solar-Terrestrial istp/outreach/ • CLUSTER II • POLAR • WIND
Physics Program • GEOTAIL • SOHO
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (find these listed alphabetically)

LWS (mutiple missions) http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Participating Missions:

Living With a Star Program lws_education.htm • IM • SDO
http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov • RBM • Solar Sentinels
(find these listed alphabetically)

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Sun-Earth Connection Missions
NASA SEC Mission (Launch Date)
MC
Magnetospheric Constellation
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/
mc/mc.htm
MMS
Magnetospheric MultiScale
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/
mms/mms.htm
Polar
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/polar/
RBM
Reaiation Belt Mappers
http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_missions_rbm.htm
SAMPEX (1992 – )
Solar Anomalous and
Magnetospheric Particle Explorer
http://surya.umd.edu/www/sampex.html
SDO
Solar Dynamics Observatory
http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_missions_sdo.htm
Sentinels
http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_missions_sentinels.htm
Living With a Star
http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/educators/missions.html
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/missions.html
Mission Education Page
(2010 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
educ_out/educ_out.htm
(2006 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
educ_out/educ_out.htm
(1996 – ) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
istp/outreach/
(2008 – ) http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_education.htm
http://surya.umd.edu/www/
outreach.html
(2006 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_education.htm
(2009 – ) http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/
lws_education.htm
Science Objective
This group of nano-satellites, will
enable us to determine the dynamics
of the magnetotail, understand its
responses to the solar wind, and reveal
the linkages between local and
global processes.
MMS will quantitatively determine the
geoeffectiveness of solar processes on
the geospace system by exploring the
fundamental physics underlying the
plasma processes that control
magnetospheric dynamics.
Study of the role of the ionosphere
in geomagnetic storms; the properties
of the particles and fields near the
Earth’s polar regions and how is
energy from the magnetosphere is
deposited into the upper atmosphere
and auroral regions.
To understand the origin and dynamics
of Earth’s radiation belts and determine
the evolution of the penetrating radiation
during magnetic storms.
Study of how high-energy particles
entering the magnetosphere affect
Earth’s upper atmosphere; the isotopic
composition of solar flares, and how
cosmic rays are affected by the solar
activity cycle.
To observe the Sun’s dynamics and
understand the nature and source of
variations, from the stellar core to the
turbulent solar atmosphere.
The Sentinels will observe the global
structure of the inner heliosphere,
follow the propagation of solar eruptive
events to Earth, and trace geomagnetic
disturbances back to their solar sources.
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Sun-Earth Connection Missions

http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/educators/missions.html
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/missions.html

NASA SEC Mission
SNOE
http://lasp.colorado.edu/snoe
(Launch Date) Mission Education Page Science Objective
(1998 – ) To measure nitric oxide density in the
terrestrial lower thermosphere (100-
No Education Page 200 km altitude) and analyze the energy
inputs to that region from the Sun and
magnetosphere that create it and cause
its abundance to vary dramatically.

SOHO (1995 – ) Explore: Study of how the solar corona is heated,

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.
gov/explore/
Stanford Solar Center:
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/
index.html
the internal structure of the
Sun, and what causes the acitivity seen
on the surface ot the Sun.

Solar-B (2005 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Solar-B seeks to understand the magnetic

http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/ educ_out/educ_out.htm origins of solar activity and variability
solar-b/solar-b.htm and how they influence and sometimes
change the Earth’s environment.

Solar Probe
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
ice_fire//sprobe.htm
(2007 – ) http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
ice_fire//outreach/index.htm
To find the source regions of the fast and
slow solar wind at maximum and mini-
mum solar activity; locate the source
and trace the flow of energy that heats
the corona; determine the structure
of the polar magnetic field and its
relationship with the overlying corona;
and determine the role of plasma
turbulence in the production of solar
wind and energetic particles.

Spartan 201-05 (1993, 1994, 1995) Study of how the solar corona expands
http://umbra.gsfc.nasa.gov/spartan to become the solar wind; what
No Education Page the velocities and temperatures
at the base of the solar wind are and
how the solar wind is accelerated.

STEREO (2004 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ STEREO will determine how coronal

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory
http://stp.gsfc.nasa/gov/missions/
stereo/stereo.htm
educ_out/educ_out.htm
mass ejections (CMEs) are produced,
how they evolve in the solar corona
and how CME particles accelerate.
It will also uncover the 3-D structure of
a CME en route to Earth.

STP (mutiple missions) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov Participating Missions:

Solar Terrestrial Probes Program • GEC • Solar-B
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov • MC • STEREO
• MMS • TIMED
(find these listed alphabetically)

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Sun-Earth Connection Missions

http://sunearth.ssl.berkeley.edu/educators/missions.html
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/missions.html

NASA SEC Mission (Launch Date) Mission Education Page Science Objective
TIMED (2001 – ) http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov TIMED will study the atmospheric
Thermosphere•Ionosphere•Mesosphere• properties (e.g., winds, temperature,
Energetic Dynamics chemical constitiuents, and energetics)
http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/ of the Mesosphere, Lower Thermosphere,
timed/timed.htm and Ionosphere (MLTI) region on a
global scale.

TRACE (1998 – ) http://vestige.lmsal.com/ Study of the 3-D structure of features seen

http://vestige.lmsal.com/TRACE/ TRACE/Public/eduprodu.htm on the Sun’s surface; how the corona is
heated; and what triggers solar flares.

TWINS (2003 – ) This mission will provide new ways

Two Wide-angle Imaging for stereoscopic imaging of Earth’s
Neutral-atom Spectrometers No Education Page plasma environment in order to study
http://nis-www.lanl.gov/nis-projects/twins/ its dynamics.

Ulysses
http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov/
(1990 – ) http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov/
outreach/outreach.html
To study what the solar wind looks like
near the poles of the Sun; what the
Sun’s magnetic field looks
like near its poles; and how the polar
wind and magnetic field change
during maximum sunspot conditions.

Voyager (1997 – ) See Mission pages for To find the solar heliopause located
http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/ outreach components beyond the orbit of Pluto; to uncover the
voyager/voyager.html properties of the interstellar medium,
– or – and to study the interaction of the
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager/ interstellar medium and the solar wind.

Wind (1994 – ) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ To study plasma interactions as the

http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/wind/ istp/outreach/ solar wind impacts the Earth’s
magnetosphere; and how energy is
transported out of the Earth’s magneto-
sphere and into the upstream solar wind.

Yohkoh (1991 – ) http://www.imsal.com/YPOP/ To observe how the Sun produces

http://www.lmsal.com/SXT/Yohkoh X-ray flares and other activity; how
the level of activity changes over time;
and how the chromosphere and
corona are heated

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Website Resources
Grades K-12
Windows to the Universe
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/space
weather/spweather_5.html
Grades 6-8
Solar Storms and You
IMAGE Science & Math Workbook
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/
workbook/workbook.html
A Soda Bottle Magnetometer
http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/
workbook/workbook.html
Grades 8-9
Solarscapes
Space Science Institute Workbook
http://www-ssi.colorado.edu/
Education/ResourcesForEducators/
Galileo sunspot drawing
from The Galileo Project.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/
10 Living With a Star
Educational solar sites listed by grade level.
Grades 9-12
Differential Rotation of the Sun
http://sohowww.estec.esa.nl/explore/
lessons/diffrot9_12.html
Solarscapes
Space Science Institute Workbook
http://www-ssi.colorado.edu/
Education/ResourcesForEducators/
Cosmic and Heliospheric
Learning Center
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Solar image taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet
How Astronomers Use Spectra Imaging Telescope aboard the SOHO satellite.
to Learn About the Sun Image from the Solar Data Analysis Center at
http://orpheus.nascom.nasa.gov/serts/ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov:80/sdac.html
Exploring the Earth’s
Magnetosphere
http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Education/Intro.html General Audience
Storms From the Sun
International Solar-Terrestrial ISTP Poster
Physics (ISTP) http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/ outreach/cmeposter/index.html
Science Education Gateway (SEGway) The Dynamic Sun
http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/segway/ CD Rom
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Solar Flare Theory explore/DynSun.html
http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/
sftheory/index.htm Space Science Education
Resource Directory
Stanford Solar Center http://teachspacescience.stsci.edu
http://solar-center.stanford.
edu/index.html
Solarscapes
The Sun in Time Space Science Institute Workbook
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/ http://www-ssi.colorado.edu/
solar/suntime/suntime.htm Education/ResourcesForEducators/
Windows on the Universe
Grades 12+ http://www.windows.ucar.edu/
How Astronomers Use Spectra
to Learn About the Sun Yohkoh Public Outreach Project
http://orpheus.nascom.nasa.gov/serts/ http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/
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NASA CORE Materials
Videocassette General
Colors of the Sun
The visible spectrum is only part of
what the Sun emits within the electro-
magnetic spectrum. Study how
astronomers use technology to learn
more about objects that are far away.
Ulysses: An Expedition
Over the Sun’s Poles
Learn about the discoveries made by
the Ulysses spacecraft. Video includes
an educator guide.
Ulysses: A Voyage
to The Sun
Based on information obtained from
Skylab, this program describes the
joint mission to explore the Sun’s
atmosphere.
Earth-Sun Relationship
This animated presentation includes
the formation of the Sun and planets,
the death of a star, and how NASA’s
space probes discovered the Van
Allen Belt.
Partnership Into Space:
Mission Helios
Follow the development and launch of
Helios, which orbited the Sun closer
than any human-made object to date.
BLACKOUT! Solar Storms and
Their Effects on Planet Earth
Follow the path of solar storms – in 3-
D animation – as they travel from the
Sun to Earth. Produced and written by
a educator for the typical middle
school student.
Living With a Star
At the NASA CORE (Central Operation of Resources For Educators) Website
you can order free NASA videos and other educational materials.
Images of Earth
and Space II
Take a video field trip to the solar
system and outer space that includes
the study of magnetic fields, El Nino,
ocean currents, an asteroid collision,
the surface of Mars, and a titanic
explosion in a binary neutron star
system.
Comet Halley Returns
Study the comet’s 1985-86 ren-
dezvous with Earth and the Sun and
learn about its next visit to our vicinity.
Sun Splash
Ozone Video
Computer graphics and animation illus-
trate ozone depletion and how ozone
protects us from ultraviolet radiation.
Station Reel Time
Two-Part Series
Learn how electricity will be generated
on the International Space Station, the
largest structure ever built in space.
Space Flight:
The Application
of Orbital Mechanics
Animation interspersed with footage
from Shuttle missions explains planetary
motion and orbital mechanics in detail.
Ulysses: Encounter
With Jupiter
Travel with Ulysses in this computer-
animated scenario of the spacecraft’s
10-day tour of Jupiter on its way to
the Sun.
http://core.nasa.gov
Videocassette Series
Episode 1: Our Star the Sun
Three Skylab missions of the 1970s
provide the data for this analysis of
the physical and chemical composi-
tion of the Sun.
30-Part Series Condensed
Onto Four Video Cassettes
Uncover new insights into the size,
formation, and makeup of the uni-
verse that complement existing physics
and earth science curricula. Set
includes a 90-page educator’s guide.
Episode 11: Universe
Visit the planets – with emphasis on
Mars and Jupiter – and explore the
solar system: galaxies, nebulae, pul-
sars, black holes, and the Sun.
Computer Materials
The Dynamic Sun
Study the Sun and its effects on Earth
with this CD-ROM multimedia presen-
tation that includes Sun study projects.
Apollo 12
The NASA Mission Reports
Follow the Apollo 12 crew to the
Moon in this detailed overview that
includes over 2,100 photographs and
five QuickTime panoramas. This mate-
rial is highly technical and not intend-
ed for general audiences.
PCs in Space
Encourage student interest in space
exploration with these free Internet
materials. For more information, visit
http://muspin.gsfc.nasa.gov/
pcinspace.html.
Views of the Solar System
The National Science Educators
Association offers this multimedia col-
lection of astronomical facts and activ-
ities. Preview the CD-ROM at
http://www.nsta.org/pubs/special/
pb128x.htm.
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Classroom Activities
Hands-on activities for use in the classroom.

Observing
the Sun for
Yourself
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/
observe/observe.html

Classroom Activities
Grade Level 3-5*

Courtesy of the
Stanford Solar Center

Partial solar eclipse image from Fred Espenak’s Eclipse Home

PAGE ACTIVITY Page at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
12 Projecting
the Sun
There are several ways you can
13 Using Remote observe the Sun, and hopefully
Solar Telescopes
sunspots, for yourself. The easiest
13 Using Your and safest is to project the Sun by building
Own Telescope
your own pinhole camera. If you have a
14 Observing telescope, you will have to equip it with a
Solar Eclipses solar filter or use a solar telescope that you
15 Sunspot can access via the Web.
Drawings

CAUTION!
Don’t EVER look directly
at the Sun, with or *These lessons can be adapted for higher grade levels
without a telescope by including telescope mirrors and observing eclipses.
(unless you have the proper filters). Educators can also project the Sun’s image through a
telescope resulting in a larger image for tracking
sunspots and other solar activity.

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Classroom Activities
Activities courtesy of the Stanford Solar Center
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html

Projecting
the Sun
You can easily and safely
observe the Sun by projecting
it through a tiny hole onto a
white sheet of paper.
This simple device is called
a “pinhole camera.”

1. With the pin, punch a hole in the you punch two holes in the piece of paper? Try
You’ll need: center of one of your pieces of paper. bending your paper so the images from the two
• 2 sheets of holes lie on top of each other. What do you think
stiff white paper 2. Go outside, hold the paper up and would happen if you punched a thousand holes in
aim the hole at the Sun. (Don’t look at your paper, and you could bend your paper so all
• 1 pin the Sun either through the hole or in the images lined up on top of each other?
• A sunny day any other way! )
• Perhaps a In fact, optical telescopes can be thought of as a
friend to help 3. Now, find the image of the Sun collection of millions of “pinhole” images all
that comes through the hole. focused together in one place!

4. Move your other piece of paper back and forth
until the image rests on the paper and is in focus
(i.e., has a nice, crisp edge). What you are see-
ing is not just a dot of light coming through the
hole, but an actual image of the Sun.
You can make your pinhole camera fancier by
adding devices to hold up your piece of paper, or
a screen to project your Sun image onto, or you
can even make your pinhole camera a “real” cam-
era by adding film.

Experiment by making your hole larger or smaller.
What happens to the image? What happens when
Related Resources
Bob Miller’s Light Walk
http://www.exploratorium.edu/light_walk/lw_main.html
If you want to learn more about how light works, you
can join artist Bob Miller’s Web-based “Light Walk”
at the Exploratorium. It’s always an
eye-opening experience for students
and educators alike. His unique dis-
coveries will change the way you look
at light, shadow, and images!

Several sites give instructions for building more exotic pinhole cameras for
observing the Sun:

Cyberspace Middle School

http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~dennisl/CMS/sf/pinhole.html

Jack Troeger’s Sun Site CAUTION!

http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/staff/jtroeger/sun.html
Don’t EVER look directly
at the Sun, with or
without a telescope
(unless you have the proper filters).

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Classroom Activities
Activities courtesy of the Stanford Solar Center
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html

Using Remote Solar Telescopes

Using Mike Rushford’s robotic solar observatory in
Livermore, California, you can get a real-time view of the Sun
by controlling a telescope from your Web browser. At cloudy times,
there are other things to do as well!

Related Resources
Eyes on the Skies
Solar Eclipse © 1999 Paul Mortfield
http://www.backyardastronomer.com
http://sunmil1.uml.edu/eyes/index.html

Using Your Own

Telescope
The safest way to look at the Sun
through your own telescope is NOT to!
Looking at the Sun can cause serious damage, even
blindness, to your eyes, unless you have proper filters.

Galileo Galilei used telescopes to observe and track

sunspots c.1600. Picture from The Galileo Project.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/

Related Resources The safest practical way to see the Sun

is by eyepiece projection. Line up your
Viewing the Sun With a Telescope telescope with the Sun, but instead of
http://www.sunspot.noao.edu/PR/answerbook/telescope.html#q15 looking through the eyepiece, hold a
sheet of white paper behind the eye-
Dr. Sunspot gives more detailed information about safely viewing the Sun with piece. You’ll see a solar image project-
a telescope and filters. ed onto the paper. What happens
when you move the paper farther back?

Observing the Sun in H-Alpha Experiment with the paper to get a

sharp viewing contrast. You should be
http://www.4w.com/pac/halpha.htm
able to see the largest sunspots with
this method.
This site gives technical information on how to observe the Sun with your own
telescope using an H-alpha filter. Includes detailed information on what fea-
tures of the Sun are best seen in H-alpha. By Harold Zirin, Peter V. Foukal, CAUTION!
and David Knisely.
Don’t EVER look directly
at the Sun, with or
without a telescope
(unless you have the proper filters).

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Classroom Activities
Activities courtesy of the Stanford Solar Center
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html

Observing
Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon,
during its monthly revolution around
Earth, happens to line up exactly
between Earth and the Sun. Why isn’t there
an eclipse every month? Because solar eclipses
occur during a new moon, but not at every
new moon. Most often the Moon passes a little
higher or a little lower than the Sun. There is a
solar eclipse about twice a year, when the
Moon’s and the Sun’s positions line up exactly.

Solar eclipse image from Fred Espenak’s Eclipse Home Page at NASA’s
Goddard Space Flight Center.
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

The glory of a solar eclipse comes from the
dramatic view of the Sun’s corona, or outer
atmosphere, which we can see only when the
brilliant solar disk is blocked by the Moon. The
corona is not just light shining from around the
disk: It is actually the outermost layer of the solar
atmosphere. Although the gas is very sparse, it is
extraordinarily hot (800,000 to 3,000,000
Kelvin), even hotter than the surface of the Sun!
(The heating of the corona is still a mystery.) The
corona shows up as pearly white streamers, their
shape dependent on the Sun’s current magnetic
fields. Thus every eclipse will be unique and glo-
rious in its own way.
A solar eclipse is only visible from a small area of
Earth. It’s unlikely that, during your lifetime, you will
ever see a total solar eclipse directly over the place
you live. Many people travel long ways to experi-
ence a total solar eclipse. If you’re lucky, you might
someday see a partial solar eclipse (one where the
Moon doesn’t quite cover all the Sun’s disk) nearby.

Related Resources You can safely observe a TOTALLY

eclipsed Sun with the naked eye, but
Fred Espenak’s Eclipse Home Page you will need a pinhole camera, an
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse appropriate type of welder’s glass,
or special Mylar glasses to safely
observe the beginning and ending of
Eclipse: Stories From the Path of Totality
a full or partial eclipse.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse

Solar Data Anaylsis Center Eclipse Information

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse

Eclipse Paths CAUTION!

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/predictions/eclipse-paths.html
Don’t EVER look directly
at the Sun, with or
without a telescope
(unless you have the proper filters).

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Classroom Activities
Activities courtesy of the Stanford Solar Center
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html

Sunspot
Drawings
Until recently, astronomers have
had to rely on drawings or sketches
to document what they’ve seen.
Charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras
and other technological wonders have
changed all that. Historic drawings,
however, are still very important.
And even today, drawings are still
more accurate at recording exactly
what the eye sees, unaltered by the
processing of fancy electronics.

Galileo Galilei (left) and sunspot drawings (above) from The Galileo Project.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/

Related Resources Galileo’s drawings of sunspots

(c. 1600) still survive today. And the
Daily Sunspot Drawing Observations at Mt. Wilson solar telescope at Mt. Wilson, above
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/150_draw.html Pasadena, California, has been
collecting sunspot drawings since
Daily Sunspot Images from SOHO 1917. The tradition continues. You
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/latestimages can check current sunspot drawings
each day at the Websites listed here,
Galileo’s Sunspot Drawings and compare them with your own.
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/g_sunspots.html

Sunspots at the Exploratorium

http://www.exploratorium.edu/sunspots

These classroom activities can be found at:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/observe/observe.html CAUTION!
Created by Deborah Scherrer, April 1997. Last revised by DKS on 2 December 1997.
Don’t EVER look directly
at the Sun, with or
without a telescope
(unless you have the proper filters).

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NASA Educator Workshop Resources

An annotated listing of sites that provide educator training and educator materials.
Note: Check these website URLs for current workshop updates!

Resource Summary

ISTP Educators learn about the connection between the star that
Sun-Earth Connections Educators Workshops heats us and our home planet. The site provides workshop
http://istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/workshop information: links to activities and information, Web
versions of speaker presentations, and evaluation forms.

URCEP NASA Aerospace Education Services Program specifically

Urban and Rural Community Enrichment Program designed to present urban and rural middle school students
http://aesp.nasa.okstate.edu/URCEP with interesting and broadening educational activities.

Making Sun-Earth Connections Ready-made presentations and captions

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/
SECEF_SunEarthDay/overview.html

NASA’s Educator Resource Centers Located on or near NASA Field Centers, museums,
http://education.nasa.gov/ercn/index.html colleges, or other nonprofit organizations, ERCs provide
educators with in-service and preservice training, demon-
strations, and access to NASA instructional products.

NOVA Works to create, develop, and disseminate a national

NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics framework for enhancing science, mathematics, and tech-
http://education.nasa.gov/nova/index.html nology literacy for preservice educators in the 21st century.

NASA Lunar-Meteorite Sample Loan Program Educators can be certified to borrow lunar and meteorite
http://education.nasa.gov/lunar.sample/index.html materials by attending a training seminar on security
requirements and proper handling procedures. Learn how!

NEW Selected participants will spend two weeks in the summer

NASA Educational Workshops at one of NASA’s centers. Travel expenses, housing, and
http://education.nasa.gov/new/index.html meals are included as part of the program. Graduate
credit is available.

Meteorology Educator’s Training NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is proud to offer a
http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/MET/MET.html full day of intermediate-to-advanced level training for expe-
rienced educators of meteorology content in the classroom.

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Glossary
Visit the Space Environment Center for a complete glossary of solar-terrestrial terms.
Aurora Light radiated by ions and atoms in the
Earth’s upper atmosphere, mostly in polar
regions, the result of bombardment by
energetic electrically charged particles
from the magnetosphere.
Bow Shock The shock wave that flanks the magnetos-
phere on the day side, and partially
deflects the solar wind. It causes the
solar wind to become more turbulent
through sudden changes in temperature
and density.
Chromosphere The part of the Sun (or another star)
between the photosphere and the corona.
Corona The Sun’s outer atmosphere.
Coronal Mass A vast magnetic bubble of plasma that
Ejection (CME) erupts from the Sun’s corona and travels
through space at high speed. Coronal
mass ejections may cause intense
geomagnetic storms and accelerate vast
quantities of energetic particles.
Heliopause The outer edge of the heliosphere, where
the solar system ends and the interstellar
space begins. At the heliopause, the
pressure of the solar wind balances that
of the interstellar medium.
Interstellar Electrified gas and dust between the stars.
Medium
Ionosphere The highest region of the Earth’s atmos-
phere containing free electrons and ions.
Magnetometer A device used to measure the Earth’s
magnetic field and changes that may
be caused by solar storms.
Magnetopause The boundary of the magnetosphere,
lying inside the bow shock, usually about
10 Earth radii toward the Sun.
Magnetosheath The region between the bow shock and
the magnetopause, characterized by very
turbulent plasma. For Earth, along the
Sun-Earth axis, the magnetosheath is
about two Earth radii thick.
Selected Bibliography
Considine, Douglas M., ed., “Van Nostrand’s Scientific Encyclopedia ,” 5th ed.
New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976
Kaufmann, William J. III, “Discovering the Universe.”
New York, W.H. Freeman and Company, 1987
18 Living With a Star
http://www.sel.noaa.gov/info/glossary.html
Solar prominence image from Big Bear Solar Observatory.
http://www.bbso.njit.edu/
Magnetosphere The region surrounding a planet within
which the planetary magnetic field is the
dominant force on electrically charged
particles that can be trapped within it.
Magnetotail A cometlike extension of a planet’s mag-
netosphere formed on the planet’s dark
night side by the action of the solar wind.
It can extend hundreds of planetary radii
away from the Sun.
Photosphere The visible portion of the Sun.
Plasma A low-density gas in which the individual
atoms are charged and which contains
an equal number of electrons.
Spectrum A particular distribution of wavelengths,
frequencies, or energies.
Solar Flare An explosive release of energy of the Sun.
Solar Wind The charged particles (plasma), primarily
protons and electrons, that are continuously
emitted from the Sun and stream outward
throughout the solar system at speeds of
hundreds of kilometers per second.
Sunspot A region of the solar surface that is dark
and relatively cool; it has an extremely
high magnetic field.
Lang, Kenneth, “Sun, Earth and Sky.” Pasachoff, Jay M., “Journey through the Universe.”
New York, Springer-Verlag, 1995 New York, Saunders College Publishing, 1994
Moore, Patrick, ed., Stockley, Corinne, and Oxlade, Chris, and Wertheim, Jane,
“The International Encyclopedia of Astronomy.” “The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science.”
New York, Orion Books, 1987 Oklahoma, EDC publishing, 1988
EG-2001-01-005-GSFC
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Additional NASA Resources

Links to NASA education and public dissemination sites.

Other Resources

NASA Education
http://education.nasa.gov/

Office of Space Science

http://spacescience.nasa.gov

Teach Space Science

http://teachspacescience.stsci.edu

Space Science News

http://science.nasa.gov
or http://spacescience.com

Spacelink
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/.index.html

NASA CORE
Central Operation of
Resources for Educators
http://core.nasa.gov/ Sunspots observed in an H-alpha image
from Big Bear Solar Observatory.
Education Resource Center http://www.bbso.njit.edu/
Acknowledgements
Network (ERCN)
http://education.nasa.gov/ercn/index.html Guide Coordinators
Diane Kisich
NASA Television Carolyn Ng
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/education.file
Missions Page Coordinator
NASA QUEST Sten Odenwald
The Internet in the Classroom
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov Cover Illustration
Melissa Stolberg
NASA Educator Workshop
& Fellowship Opportunities Education Research
http://education.nasa.gov/workshop.html Susan Batcheller Highlund,
MSE Consulting
A Guide to NASA
Education Programs OSS Educational Review
http://ehb2.gsfc.nasa.gov/edcats/ Elaine Lewis, IGES
1999/nep/programs/index.html
Classroom Activity
Aerospace Education Stanford Solar Center
Service Program (AESP)
http://www.okstate.edu/aesp/AESP.html Assistant
Shane Bussmann
NASA Student
Involvement Program (NSIP) Layout, Design and Editing
http://education.nasa.gov/nsip ideum.com

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LIVING WITH A STAR

Educator Resources for Understanding Connections
Between the Sun and Earth

EG-2001-01-005-GSFC
 star
Living With A Star
Educator Resources Guide 5. What kind of recommendation would you make to someone who asks about this

3/19/01
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